The 2017-18 Southern CRD Webinar Series Continues: How Can I Be of Service? Determining the Best Role for Community Engagement

January 25, 2018 @ 1:00pm CT/2:00pm ET

Cooperative Extension has a mandate to assess community needs and assist with community issues, but how agents engage with communities will vary by topic, need and situation. This webinar is an interactive session that will explore different roles agents might fill as they work for community change. We will discuss the different roles Extension can serve when creating community change including: informing, being a catalyst for change, innovating change; or orchestrating change – and when and how these roles may change.

USDA Rural Information Center (RIC) Webinar

January 31, 2018 @ 1:00pm CT/2:00pm ET

USDA NIFA Division of Family & Consumer Sciences will host a webinar on the USDA Rural Information Center (RIC), a service of the National Agriculture Library. Mary Louise Reynnells will present an informational webinar on the resource assistance available. The RIC has resources related to Community Development, Rural Citizen Services, Sustainable Rural Communities, and Rural America Collections. RIC staff provide customized information products to specific inquiries including assistance in economic revitalization issues; local government planning projects; funding sources; technical assistance programs; research studies; and other related issues.Learn more

The Collective Impact Model has the potential for bringing organizations and partners together to address a common set of goals. This webinar will provide an overview of the model -- the contexts in which it may be useful, the strategies for making it successful, and current criticisms of its use. Evaluation strategies for assessing both the formative and summative aspects of collective impact models will also be discussed.
Presenters: Walt Whitmer, Scott Chazdon, Deb Tootle, and Allison Nichols
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This annotated bibliography provides current research and outreach on structural racism in the U.S. food system for the food system practitioner, researcher, and educator. Structural racism in the United States has been defined as the “normalization and legitimization of an array of dynamics—historical, cultural, institutional, and interpersonal—that routinely advantage whites while producing cumulative and chronic outcomes for people of color.” This resources identifies literature that links the social construction of whiteness and its intentional or consequential impact on structural racism within the United States’ local food movement. Learn more

Healthier Together in Calhoun and Taliaferro Counties – University of Georgia

In 2016, the University of Georgia received a two-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to boost obesity prevention efforts in Georgia's most impacted rural counties—Calhoun and Taliaferro—each with an adult obesity prevalence of over 40 percent. Involving multiple University and community partners, a cross-programming approach was crafted to address obesity through Cooperative Extension. Fittingly, the project was named Healthier Together. University partners include Cooperative Extension, the College of Public Health, the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and the Fanning Institute for Leadership Development.

The primary goal of Healthier Together Calhoun/Taliaferro is to implement environmental changes to promote healthy eating and physical activity in places where youth and families spend their time. Interventions involve forming a community coalition to work with schools, community organizations, local government and businesses to serve and sell healthy food, create places to be physically active and address local policy issues that influence healthy living.

A multi-sector community approach promotes robust outcomes and long-term impact. After the first year of implementation, notable outcomes include the following: six community groups have installed 30 raised bed gardens, walking trails are being constructed, walkability of communities is being addressed by local officials, and new physical activities for youth and adults are being offered. Fresh Stop, a structured CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) style farmer’s market is underway through partnership with the Georgia Farmer’s Market Association. In addition, school cafeterias are adopting Smarter Lunchroom policies and practices, cancer prevention cooking schools are being offered and 4-H youth development activities have increased. Success stories are taking on a very personal nature in this project: a volunteer at the community garden, who also participated in the cooking class, used veggies from the garden and recipes from class to improve her family’s diet. This volunteer’s husband had pre-diabetes, and with lifestyle changes supported by Healthier Together, he has lost 20 lbs. Calhoun and Taliaferro counties are enacting sustainable, evidence-based practices for increasing the health of their residents. These outcomes also have positive impact on the economic vibrancy of the communities and their capacity to address issues through inter-agency collaboration as residents engage in addressing health concerns together.
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Employee Feature – Shanda Ashley

Shanda Ashley has worked for the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension for more than 15 years. She is currently the County Extension Coordinator in Calhoun County. While Shanda’s program assignment is 4H Youth Development, she is experiencing firsthand the importance of Community Resource Development as she implements Healthier Together Calhoun – a project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Shanda leads her staff in addressing the needs of her community through the formation of a strong community coalition. The coalition was instrumental in conducting a community survey which showed that 51% of participants (n = 269) did not participate in any physical activity or exercise during the month. 44% of participants had been told by a doctor that they have high blood pressure, 55% were obese, and 32% were overweight. In response to these and other health indicators, Ms. Ashley led the Healthier Together Coalition to implement three strategies: increase access to physical activity, increase access to healthy foods, and increase health and nutrition education to youth and adults. The coalition also addressed ways to communicate more effectively about these community wide efforts.

Using a multi-sector, cross-programming approach, Shanda Ashley is using the resources from the CDC grant to expand Extension’s outreach, increase community volunteerism and address neighborhood walkability along with pedestrian safety. Due to Shanda’s leadership, over 40 members of the community with representation from all four municipalities have contributed to the strategic plan and participated on Healthier Together work groups. She has served as the liaison with the Department of Transportation to improve crosswalks in front of schools. She has brought city and county officials together to decide on the installation of walking trails. Perhaps one of the most rewarding things for Ms. Ashley has been teaching youth about where our food comes from and how to grow vegetables in a garden. In the photo, Shanda is working with a 4-H student, Jameshia Rosenborough, in one of the community gardens. Along with these new initiatives, Shanda continues to increase outreach in her own program area of youth development with the addition of a program assistant.

Calhoun County has supported the Healthier Together initiative wholeheartedly which is due largely to Shanda Ashley’s reputation as a trusted Extension professional who cares deeply about her community. Not only has Shanda tapped into the great social capital in her community, but she has also pulled in the experts from community design and development, nutrition and health, agriculture and natural resources. Whether it’s revitalizing a local farmers’ market or installing community gardens, Shanda Ashley has taken on the challenge to find sustainable solutions to make her county Healthier Together!

* This publication was supported by the Cooperative Agreement Number, NU58DP006266-01-03, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.

4-H Youth Development, Organizational Specialist – Virginia Tech

The 4-H Organizational Specialist is an administrative, professional, faculty position and reports to the State 4-H Program Leader. Working in collaboration with other State 4-H Faculty, this position provides assistance in leading and delivering 4-H educational programs that meet the needs of Virginia’s Youth. The 4-H Organizational Specialist will be responsible for providing leadership to 4-H systems including, but not limited to, 4-H club development/management, risk management, affiliated 4-H groups, 4-H volunteers, mentoring, and military partnerships. The 4-H Organizational Specialist will work in the State 4-H Office on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. Learn More

4-H Youth Development, Programming Specialist – Virginia Tech

The 4-H Programming Specialist is an administrative, professional, faculty position and reports to the State 4-H Program Leader. Working in collaboration with other State 4-H Faculty, this position provides assistance in leading and delivering 4-H educational programs that meet the needs of Virginia’s Youth. The 4-H Programming Specialist will be responsible for providing leadership, including resource development, for program design, delivery, and evaluation with a primary focus on youth program quality and curriculum/resource development. The 4-H Programming Specialist will work in the State 4-H Office on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.Learn More

Theme: “Balancing Tradition with Innovation" The JCEP Leadership Conference Planning Committee invites Extension educators, specialists and administrators to share their expertise in support of the 2018 JCEP Leadership Conference. The purpose of the JCEP Leadership Conference is to support Extension leadership succession planning and development nationwide across all disciplines. The JCEP Leadership Conference provides professional development that addresses leadership and management skill development critical for emerging Extension leaders.

2018 National Land Grant Diversity Conference: Hebron, KY

February 15-16, 2018

The Conference will be held on February 15th & 16th, 2018 in Hebron, Kentucky with the theme “Intentional Connections: Education and Application in a World of Differences”. This conference is hosted by five land grant universities from Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. It is designed for administrators, faculty, and staff from Cooperative Extension, research, and academic programs; private and public university representatives; K-12 educators; community outreach leaders, etc. Proposals for presentations are being invited for the 2018 conference on best practices, curriculum models, research, professional development training, and success stories for implementing diversity initiatives in a variety of settings as it relates to this year’s conference theme areas: Immigration, Social Justice, Inclusion, and Engagement.

Public Issues Leadership Development Conference: Arlington, VA

2018 National Health Outreach Conference: Bloomington, MN

May 2-4, 2018

The Conference will be held on February 15th & 16th, 2018 in Hebron, Kentucky with the theme “Intentional Connections: Education and Application in a World of Differences”. This conference is hosted by five land grant universities from Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. It is designed for administrators, faculty, and staff from Cooperative Extension, research, and academic programs; private and public university representatives; K-12 educators; community outreach leaders, etc. Proposals for presentations are being invited for the 2018 conference on best practices, curriculum models, research, professional development training, and success stories for implementing diversity initiatives in a variety of settings as it relates to this year’s conference theme areas: Immigration, Social Justice, Inclusion, and Engagement.

The 2018 Northeast Agricultural and Resource Economics Association (NAREA) Pre-Conference Workshop, co-sponsored by the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, will be held on June 9-10, 2018, prior to the main conference on June 10-12. This pre-conference workshop seeks to highlight recent advances in the economic analysis of food systems in the U.S. as well as globally. They seek papers that address individual impacts and causes as well as papers that examine system-wide interactions within the food system, including production, distribution and consumption linkages.

Community Development Society’s Annual International Conference: Detroit, MI

July 22-25, 2018

Conference Theme: Engaging in a Culture of Health: Making Waves in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Goals of the 2018 National Health Outreach Conference: fostering a culture of health through community-based strategies; encouraging health equity; creating improvement in health through disruptive change and innovation; promoting co-creation with communities to ensure relevance and reduce barriers to positive change.